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Rain was like night. You could be different in the dark and under the clouds.
“We’re only ever good because there are consequences,” I told her. “Take those away, and everyone shows their true self. Kind of like taking off a mask.”
Damon pulled on his black skull, the teeth in the mouth looking like claws. Will handed Michael his red one with deep black gashes across the face that were just as vicious as the gnawed lips. Will tossed me my metallic silver mask with slits for the eyes that were small and dark, and the gouges in the skin mean and hard. Then he slipped on the white one with a red stripe down the side of the face. All of us looked like some postapocalyptic death squad, which suited the egos of a bunch of spoiled, rich boys who never really knew danger.
“I told Rika once that I was never going back there. That I never knew people could be so ugly.” He met my eyes. “But I was talking about me.”
“I like chasing you,” he said, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I like our foreplay.” I nodded. “I like it, too.” “Hide with me, then?” Hide from my brother? Hide from David, Lev, and Ilia and sneak around with Kai? I nodded again. “Okay.”
“Clothes are dry, I see.” I let my eyes fall down the backs of her legs—legs I’d only ever seen the skin of once. “I have some more provisions for the contract you can take to Gabriel,” I told her, clearing my throat. “It’s on the table.” She walked over and grabbed the envelope, holding it at her side. “Anything else?” No, not really. But I didn’t want her to go yet, either. “Yes.” I stuck my pen in the holder and raised my eyes to her. “No matter how you cover yourself, it’s never enough. You’re beautiful.”
People will think what they want to think, not because they believe they are right, but because it’s in their nature to maintain that they are. By defending yourself, you feed the appetite for drama. By not, you’ve ended the conversation. You. Not them.
“I love you guys,” Michael said, “but are you fucking dense? You’re my friends. She is everything. Maybe someday you’ll know what the fuck I’m talking about.”
“Damon eats pain,” I told her. “He will find some way to take it and twist it and fit it down his throat, so he can swallow it. He’s made of it. You all can endure it until you overcome it, but Damon . . . he wants to be in hell.” It’s where he shines.
This conversation with Rika breaks my heart. Because I think this is after he sends the matchboxes to Rika and they all think it's a threat.. but if I remember correctly he sent them as being a brother because he just found out that Rika is his half sister?
Maybe. Trying to remember.
So, Kai was going to be the worst husband, too, from the looks of it. Slow clap for him. That was vile, and I was actually impressed.
“How could you go so far?” he burst out. “I’m going to fucking kill you.” He gripped my brother’s throat in one hand, holding him in place, and hit him with the other. Damon wasn’t fighting back. He just squeezed his eyes shut, blood streaming out of his nose and down his face as Will attacked him again and again. “When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.” His voice shook as he grunted. “Fuck it all, and fuck you.”
“Don’t you have a husband to slowly drain the life out of?” I heard Will complain as soon as I slammed the door. “What am I doing here?”
Everyone thought he was inhuman. Incapable of feeling. Resistant to emotion. Sick. Unwell. A machine. No. He felt everything. He never shunned an emotion. Not one. He knew that letting it run its course was the only way to get rid of it. Shame. Fear. Anger. Love. Worry. Sadness. Betrayal. Guilt. He owned every single one.
Extra with Damon.
